Justin Cole

Justin Cole is the son of Michelle, and Anderson Cole making him a member of House Cole. During Westros Misha Bolten was married to Justin Cole due to Roose Bolten wanting to force Justin to remain in Dreadfort and not be pulled back to Deephome.

Justin Cole would be married to Misha Bolten and had a happy wedding to her, but following the wedding he and his family were shocked to discover that he was not going to be leaving the capital and only his quick acts to defuse the situation stopped this from leading immediatly to fighting. Following his marriage to Misha Bolten he would convert to Christianity in an effort to further grow closer to Misha and in this way changed from being a Dragonoph Knight to a Christian Knight.

Contents

History

Early History

First Bolten-Lucerne War

The Turning of House ColeThey have held my son hostage for years. Eventually there is a cost.

The Turning of House Cole

“I sat in that meeting and watched as the words of that madman Ramsey Bolten were echoed in Roose. Speaking to him afterwards I got the impression that he was no longer willing to deny his young bastard, and despite my honest chritisims he would not budge. It was in that moment I knew I couldn't watch as my family was destroyed because of the decisions of madmen. It was in that moment I turned my back on the fools in Dreadfort and charted my own path.”

— Josh Cole

As the war in Bolten rose to prominence it was Josh Cole that saw the error of conflict with Lucerne, and when Roose commanded all the banners to send their forces to Karhold for the attack on the west, it Josh that begin to bring the elements of House Cole back to Deephome where he begin to plan for what he wanted to do in this new Ramsey Bolten dominated Kingdom of Bolten. He begin sending messengers to Lorderon and would communicate that he was interested in discussing a meeting of the minds, which he wanted to happen on the river border of the two kingdoms. House Scarlet, and House Menathil would arrange the meeting, and would send a few men to join Diane in her hopeful diplomatic mission with Josh Cole. Diane Portmane would go about meeting Josh Cole on a barge in the river bordering the two kingdoms she would arrange the deal that gave House Cole the future control of a huge tract of land south of Lorderon and a position as Noble House within the Kingdom of Lucerne. Josh Cole would be impressed with the generocity they showed him, and in return for this he promiced that when the time came he would turn his forces against Bolten and allow the Lucernians to cross the bridge in peace. He would also demand that his daughter Kristen Cole would be married off, and he was offered Taimen Scarlet as the choice and learning how high up Taimen was in House Scarlet he was beyond happy to accept the offer. As the army of Bolten marched on Jeutenburg it was Josh Cole that lied and said that the forces of House Scarlet were threatening and he couldn't pull his forces back. Following this act of good faith Taimen and Kristen Cole would be married in the Temple of Lorderon thus sealing the arrangement between House Cole and the Kingdom of Lucerne.

Conversation Incoming

Fairmarket. The Riverlands. Lorderon, and Kul Tiras. Westbridge. All had fallen to our might. All had sworn the sword to the Valley of Lucerne. All that power, and yet I looked north and saw a great demon the likes of which I could not hope to resist. The Empire was the reason for growth. The Empire was the reason for everything we did. The Empire was the land that should have done great things for the world, but instead of this they did nothing. They allowed chaos to breed amongst them, and in that weakeness and failing they threatened to ruin the entire continent.

I don`t know how long I was sitting in that room on the boat, but by the time the Cole`s finally made their way into the room I had watched the day turn to darkness. Walking into the meeting I had heard of the the looks of this Cole Lord, and knew instantly from the scar on his face that the taller man was Josh Cole lord of the Coles. Accompanying him were three others of which only one I recegnized from reports, and that was the one directly behind him of whom I knew to be his vassal Baryn Shelt. I had heard rumors of the anger and jelousy that had been shown by Baryn Shelt whenever his liege lord was insulted, and for that alone I was suprised by his arrival.

``Well Lord Scarlet we are here, and prepared to discuss the issues at hand.`` I knew Lord Cole was a proud man, but for him to enter the room as if he was just damn important that we were wasting his time was quite annoying. The man had sent us letters begging us in careful words to take his people in and protect us, and perhaps that made him ashamed of his current weakened position.

``My King William third of his name has sent new offers for this meeting, and I`m sure a man of your understanding will see the judgement of a union of your houses and the Kingdom of Lucerne.`` Not much had changed in the new offers. More land was given to them, including some important port space in the west, but in terms of the real stuff it was more about the willingness to not force House Cole to intervene militarily unless completely neccessary that was going to excite this cowardly lord.

``Your King has become known for his rewards for those who please him, but my conserns lie with those he has destroyed when they misplease him.`` Many on our side of the table flinched openely at the insult to a king that not only I had great respect for. He had done so much for us in such a short time, and to hear someone besmirtch him nearly caused Tirion Fraizen to leap from his chair. Before anything could come of the comment I raised my hand to silence everyone before speaking.

``My King has only destroyed those that did not see the wisdom in joining with the winning side.`` I looked at the smug look on Lord Cole`s face and just wanted to reach across the table and smash him with my fist. Knowing that was going to somewhat derail the alliance talk I paused myself watching for a reaction, but Lord Cole didn`t respond he just begin speaking silently with the man to his left that I didn`t know. ``Judging from your history you shall surely see the wisdom of surviving.`` Baryn Shelt was off his chair before I had even finished speaking, and I knew I shouldn`t have gone that far, but the arrogance of this man to make us plead with him to join was infuriating.

``What do you suggest about my lords character.`` Laiden Rivers got up from my side and I saw the hint of movement towards his sword, and hoped to god sence would win out amongst the fools in this room. Knowing I had to calm the situation down, I spoke in the calmest tone I could possibly muster.

``Of course we mean no offence, but it is clear to everyone who is paying attention that the Boltens cannot win a conflict against Lucerne.`` Switching the insults to the Boltens seemed to alieve the persieved slight on his Lords honor and thus Baryn Shelt sat himself down once again.

``This may be correct but what promices do we have that your Kingdom will hold our current positions in regards to the future.`` I pushed the alliance papers to the side of the table indicating it would outline all of the anwsers he sought.

``My King has outlined the result of what your alliance with us will mean for your people.`` Without a second thought Baryn Shelt rose from the table and retreieved the alliance papers from William and brought them back to his Lord. Josh looked at the papers for some time and it was clear to me that he would see them fairly. A positon of Arch Duke within the hypothetical province of Westros. His loyal vassals all expanding to Grand Lords, and most importantly was the fact that not a single inch of his land was lost due to his alliance with us.

`` I see here that King William is willing to agree to marriage contracts as well.`` This was obviously something he had been thinking on as it was a small point on one of the lines near the bottom.

``He is willing to listen to our advise on these matters yes that is correct.`` Leaning forward I knew I had been commanded to offer a good match, and alongside my brother Darius I had decided that my son Taimen as an offer, and if that was unsatisfactory then several of the daughters of my brother Darius would be offered instead.

``Well Lord Saiden is there any amongst your family that you would offer.`` His face had twisted from arrogance, and there was now a truly obvious look of excitement splashed across him.

``I have my son of whom is my oldest and heir to my position.`` I turned around and whispered for Laiden Rivers to leave the room and find my son. ``My commander will go and fetch my son.`` When I looked at him his eyes were shining as clearly he had not thought he was going to get such a significant offer from us.

``In return for such a proposal I would gladly offer my oldest daughter Kristen Cole.``

``I would agree to this marriage.`` I knew the first thing we had to do was make sure his daughter wasn`t an ugly duckling, or was five, but the agreement was in place now.

``Excellent news.`` He made motions for his men to raise from the table, but I did not move nor did any of our men.

``We will need you to do certain things in order for us to know that you are on our side.`` He sat himself back down followed switfly by his men.

``And what would these things be Lord Saiden.``He probably already knew exactly what he would be forced to do, but knowing the man he wanted time to digest things in his mind.

``Firstly when the Boltens command you to move south, you will send none of your forces.``

``This will be difficult especially do to the prisoners that are held by the Boltens.`` The way he said it was more like he was expecting us to get his hostages out of the Dreadfort instead of just giving a reason.

``This aspect is non negiotable but we will do our best to get your people out of Dreadfort safely.`` A look of genuine suprise came to his face as if he had no idea such a thing was even possible.

``A siege of Dreadfort is optimistic at this point don`t you think.`` As he spoke this Laiden returned throught the doors with my son Taimen in tow. Upon looking at my son this Lord Cole smiled aprovingly obviously happy that my son wasn`t a cripple or a fool.

``We will not need a siege quite yet. We have men prepared to free as many young ones as we can from the Bolten`s grasp.``

``You have a man in the Dreadfort.`` He looked impressed as he said it, clearly understanding how difficult infiltrating the Dreadfort was.

``We do.``

Conversion

Following his marriage to Misha Bolten he would convert to Christianity in an effort to further grow closer to Misha and in this way changed from being a Dragonoph Knight to a Christian Knight.

The Dreadfort Court MassacreThis is the moment where we move past redemption. If we do this we become beyond anything worth saving, but the unfortunate nature of this is that if we do not I will watch my kingdom collapse anyway. Options...Options...

Dreadfort Court Massacre

Many of the eventual killings would be done at the gallows while the killing would also spill out into the courtyard and the palace grounds as the vengeful loyalists let out their anger on what they believed was a rebellion brewing.

“Karhold, Jeutenburg, and much of the west were being taken by the Lucernians, and I think in that moment as the noble lords watched everything they had built falling apart there were many that wanted out. The rule of Bolten meant that many of them had sons and daughters as hostages in Dreadfort and these were more important then any land would ever be.”

— Josh Cole

When Karhold became completely surrounded by the forces of House Starke and others from the Kingdom Of Lucerne there became a movement by many of the lords of Bolten to try and get their children from Dreadfort of which everyone knew was the next target for the Lucernians. Roose Bolten understood that he only retained many of the nobles loyalties by holding their children and for this reason refused any calls to give up the children, and in fact called for more to be sent to solitfy loyalites. Anderson Cole would start a movement to Dreadfort when he and his friend Hadrian Hornwood would lead many nobles to Dreadfort in order to see Roose Bolten and get their children back. Brodin Isnet fresh from seeing the losses of the Boltens at Jeutenburg would give command of Wishborne Castle to his son Brodin Isnet and then would lead a small force of House Isnet to the Dreadfort where he would arrive just before the arrival of Anderson Cole and was prepared to demand the release of his son and heir. When they arrived they were greeted by Roose in the Dining Hall of the main keep as they wanted to be protected by the Guests Right, and while at first the mood was positive when talk begin on returning hostages it became clear they were not getting their children. Shocked by this turn of events Roose moved forward and they were told to leave and bring their forces to Dreadfort as they were commanded or risk their children never coming home. As this command was given several mostly led by Henrik Stout would argue that the war was not winnable if they did not work together, and that they needed to place trust in the nobles by giving them back their children and not holding them as hostages during conflict. When these arguments arose in the Dining Hall to a level that the tide turned to the rebels, Roose would shock everyone as he ordered his men to break the Guests Right by having the nobles rounded up by his guards and brought to central Dreadfort's square.

“To see so many honest men die in that short a time was a sad thing to behold. They wanted their children back, and for their troubles many of them were forced to watch their children killed in front of them. I held Justin the entire time in my room as I knew that if he was let out he would try and save his father and that would find him dead with the rest of them. Any love I still held for my family died with those poor souls. My father had lost his mind somewhere along the road, and I knew this was the moment he went to far and got himself in too deep to ever dig himself out of the chaos.”

— Misha Bolten

With the nobles chained to posts in the Dreadfort square Roose and Rickard Karstarke would find every one of their children who were hostages in the capital and of those that they had more then one they executed the children while their fathers were forced to watch the act. In this brutality children as young as the five year old Sasha Cole were executed, and as the bodies piled up a fight broke out as Cley Cerwynn would get out of his bonds and kill a gaurd in front of him. Cley's execution begin the execution of the remainder of the nobles as Roose executed everyone else in the square leaving nearly thirty nobles and fifteen children dead. It was a shocking moment for all those other then Roose, but they all stood motionless as Roose walked forward and knelt down before the body of one of the children and closed its eyes before getting up and walking back into the keep. There was little talk after this as the rest of the men there knew that there was now no escape for them, and the remaining children were brought into the keep where they would remain under house arrest. Realizing that Justin Cole was the only one of the hostages not present Tared ordered him found and brought before him, and since they had another Cole already in Sasha Cole who the others would not know was among the dead he no longer needed Justin. Misha Bolten and Justin Cole were hidden at this point and made their way into the city proper only stopped by a guardsmen who Justin was forced to kill to get past him. Making their way into the town they were close to being caught when a door opened to a house and a man beckoned them inside. Getting inside the man told them he was Veseryan Ongrill and had been sent by the Kingdom of Lucerne to find him. Fearing for their life Justin took out his sword again but as he did Veseryan would knock it from his hand and push him against the wall holding him restrained before saying.

“Fear not Lucerne young one. We are your only friend in this land of madness.”

— Veseryan Ongrill

Misha would come between them, and was able to sit Justin down and calm him, and once they were all seated Veseryan told them that he couldn't get them out right now as the streets were filled with men looking for Justin and Misha, but soon he would get them out through the sewers. Veseryan would hide them in a cellar beneath the house, and once inside they found several other children that clearly Veseryan had also taken in so that they would be safe. Learning more about Veseryana and the Lucernian presence from Messaries Condon the oldest of the children in the cellar he was amazed at the level of infiltration the Lucernians had already made. Back on the street the gaurds of Bolten went house to house trying to find Misha, and Justin, and when after several days they had failed to find them the story was spread that Justin had kidnapped Misha after killing many of the noble children in the capital, and thus he was blamed for much of the murders. Veseryan would be able to gain knowledge of who had died from Tyse Hornwood who remained in the keep, and it was that list that Veseryan would sent west to the besieging forces of House Starke so that they could pass that information on to the others. Returning to the house Veseryan prepared the children for the moment they would move to escape, and made them aware that it was not going to be easy, as he had noted improved guarding of the sewers as House Bolten attempted to stifle escapes from the capital.

Rescue of Ottilia Caliman

As the Executions took the lives of Willas Caliman and Egidia Caliman it was Ottilia who survived and was taken into a side room of the castle by a Bolten guard who planned to rape her before killing her. Edvard Caliman who had watched the killings from inside the castle wiped the tears away and followed the guard who had taken his cousin and Edvard was able to kill the Bolten guard who had been preparing to rape Ottilia Caliman. Following this and after calming down Ottilia the two would use the commotion to sneak Ottilia out and thus escaping from the city and making their way back to Castle Caliman.